Nile River Passing by Gezira Scheme in Sudan

The curved greenish line that crosses this image is a portion of the Nile River in Sudan. While much of the thumbnail image is tan and arid, upon opening the full image, much greener and more fertile lands can be observed to the south.

Much of this green terrain is part of the Gezira Scheme, a large agricultural zone that uses the waters of the Nile for irrigation. The scheme, in the bottom half of the thumbnail, is located below the confluence of the Blue Nile (right) and White Nile (left) Rivers. One of the largest irrigation projects in the world, it provides water to an agricultural area of around 8,800 km².